Trump calls for hush money dismissal; bids to run out clock on case

President-elect Trump’s attorneys signaled an effort to try to run out the clock on his New York hush money case, asking Judge Juan Merchan for a month to mount a formal effort to dismiss his criminal conviction in the wake of his White House victory.

Attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove — who Trump has named to lead the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively, in his Justice Department — requested permission to wait until Dec. 20 to file their motion, which would come just a month before Trump’s inauguration. Their letter was made public Wednesday.

Prosecutors want a much faster timeline.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) said in a Tuesday letter his office is open to freezing the proceedings during Trump’s presidency, but urged the judge to set a speedier schedule to resolve the matter, proposing Trump file his brief “promptly” and that prosecutors respond by Dec. 9. 

The maneuverings suggest the Trump team's intention is to delay the proceedings to make it as unlikely as possible that Merchant would sentence Trump before his inauguration. Once Trump is inaugurated, the case is almost certain to be frozen or tossed out, and there'd be no chance of such a sentencing.

Prosecutors oppose fully dismissing the case.

Trump's lawyers said the president-elect's victory delivered "a mandate that supersedes the political motivations" of New York prosecutors.

"This case must be immediately dismissed,” Blanche and Bove wrote in a letter to the judge made public Wednesday. 

Bragg argued that the judge must weigh the constitutional weight of the office of the president against that of the jury, which convicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment made to an adult film actress ahead of the 2016 presidential election.  

Trump’s sentencing is currently scheduled for Tuesday but is widely expected to be delayed as the judge sorts out the impact of the election. Both sides have indicated they are okay with a pause. 

Judge Juan Merchan now must decide whether to adjourn it and how fast he will rule on Trump’s new dismissal argument. 

The judge also has yet to decide whether to toss out Trump’s conviction entirely following the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision, which gave former presidents broad protections. Trump’s attorneys have said that should take a backseat until their new post-election motion is resolved, including any appeals. 

Trump’s other criminal cases have already reached dead-ends in the wake of his reelection.  

A federal judge suspended all deadlines in Trump’s federal election subversion case at special counsel Jack Smith’s request, and another court agreed to pause Smith’s appeal seeking to revive his classified documents prosecution in Florida. 

Smith is due to provide an update on suggested next steps by Dec. 2, and Trump’s attorneys said the request to wait to file their hush money motion until later in the month would enable them to first review Smith’s suggestion. 

In Georgia, where Trump is accused of attempting to subvert the state’s election results, the Dec. 5 oral arguments in Trump’s appeal to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) were canceled without explanation. It remains unclear if the cancellation was the result of the election. 

This story was updated at 11:32 a.m.